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Amy Roeder represents part of Bangor in the Maine House of Representatives.
Last week, I stood behind a microphone at a Bangor rally and told the crowd the truth: I didn’t have much hope to offer.
I don’t speak at rallies unless I know why I’m there. I don’t take a mic unless I have something true to say. That day, I showed up not because I felt optimistic, but because I felt responsible.
I told the crowd, “Please, have hope in my stead. I’m gonna need you to hold up my part of the sky for a minute. I’ll come back. I promise.”
Because the truth is, none of us can carry the weight of this moment alone.
You’re likely here, reading this, because the compounding horrors coming out of Washington have left you restless — or maybe numb. Because you care. Because you want to do something.
So here’s what we do.
We act.
We show up in Augusta to testify against bills that would strip away our rights — like LD 975, “An Act to Repeal Laws Allowing Abortion and to Criminalize Abortion.” This bill, introduced in March, seeks to repeal existing laws that permit abortion in Maine and aims to criminalize the procedure. It would redefine “human being” to include the moment of conception, effectively granting legal personhood to embryos and fetuses. The bill also mandates that all miscarriages be reported to the state, raising concerns about privacy and the criminalization of pregnancy outcomes.
Can’t make it to Augusta? Babysit for someone who can. Give someone gas money. Or pick up the phone and call the governor’s office. Ask her to take a stand against local law enforcement partnerships with ICE. Recently, ICE signed its first official partnership with a local Maine law enforcement agency, allowing officers to arrest individuals on immigration violations during routine work — an authority previously reserved for federal agents.
And if you can’t do that? Then go out and build what they’re trying to burn down: our schools, our libraries, our unions, our neighborhoods.
When I moved to Bangor, I finally felt part of a real community. Over the years, that community has frayed. There are holes where connection used to be, and that is convenient for those who are trying to destroy our will. The more isolated we are, the easier we are to divide.
We can’t let that happen. So we mend what’s broken. With our words, our deeds, and our bonds. If you can’t fight, fix. Those are the only choices I see right now.
And maybe — just maybe — that’s how we bring hope home again.
Maine is the state with the audacity to choose Dirigo as its motto: I lead. But leadership doesn’t always mean marching at the front. Sometimes it means standing in the crowd, overwhelmed and honest, and saying to the people next to you: Don’t forget who you are.
This is Maine. You are Maine. You are the granite, the axe, the tide, and the truth.
And if you ever forget that, let me be the one to remind you.
